Jake

During the course of your visits with us, you may have the opportunity to meet a very special member of our staff: Jake. He’s the black and white staff member with four legs and a part time employee, who occasionally joins Dr. Johnson in his private office or our conference room. Jake is a Canaan Dog, an ancient, relatively uncommon breed and the only canine breed indigenous to the Land of Canaan, now Israel.

His breed has a wonderful history extending back 4500 years when they were pets and shepherd’s dogs. They became feral and ran in packs in the desserts and mountains of the land of Israel for almost 1900 years before being re-domesticated in the 1930’s and trained to be military bomb sniffing dogs, guard dogs, message running dogs, as well as pets and shepherd dogs. Because of the history of his breed and their high intelligence, gentleness and sturdiness, Dr. J chose Jake to be a member of his family and staff. For more info on this fascinating and wonderful breed, please visit
The Canaan Dog Club of America’s website.

Should you arrive early for an afternoon appointment, you may glimpse Jake as he makes the his journey from walking some of the staff around the neighborhood to the conference room for his afternoon nap. Occasionally, he may visit with our patients on special request. His main job description includes watching over the entire staff and making them laugh. For patients who are a little anxious, he may play the role of therapy dog and comforter. Jake does not visit patient treatment areas, but he grants interviews on occasion.

By the way, his real name is Ya’akov ben Yochanan, which is Hebrew for Jacob Johnson, which seems fitting in view of his land of origin.